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Nuts and bolts

As you’ve no doubt seen in the team’s release this morning, the Cardinals signed Preston Wilson, who had been released by the Astros.

Here are the nuts and bolts of where things stand today…

* Wilson is in the lineup, playing right field and batting sixth. Encarnacion is in center. TLR said he’s more comfortable with Encarnacion in CF than Wilson.

* To make roster room, Anthony Reyes was optioned to Memphis. That would seem to indicate strongly that Mulder’s next start will not be a rehab. I’d guess Weaver Tuesday, and maybe Mulder on Wednesday.

-M.

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14 Comments

I seem to remember during the offseason when some of us fans were upset that the Cards didn’t sign Preston Wilson or Jacques Jones, and instead signed Juan Encarnacion. Now we have Juan and Preston…strange how things work out. If Preston makes a huge impact, the Astros are gonna be sorry they waived him and a division competitor picked him up. M, what do you tink of this move? And how did Mulder do in his 3rd rehab start?

Mulder did pretty bad. 5 runs, 5 walks, 7 hits, in just (either four or five) innings. I did a huge article about Mulder last night, lots of stats involved to explain my opinion on his future. As for Wilson, I don’t neccesarily mind the move, but he’s got a huge ? over his head. I disagree with sending Reyes down, also. He’s better than Marquis, so why not send Timo Perez down to bring in Wilson, give Marquis the one more chance, then if he doesn’t produce, send him down and bring up John Rodriguez? I like that move, because I think Marquis is going to get rocked. I also read that they might be platooning Duncan, which I think is a monumental mistake.

I’m inclined to agree with Brady on this one – Leaving Timo up is a bad idea. I don’t think I would have sent Reyes down, but what are you gonna do? How about skip wasting cash on Wilson and bring J-Rod back up. The Astros are TERRIBLE lately and they didn’t want Wilson. I’d love to be wrong, as it turns out I seem to be about the Weaver move, but I just don’t get this AT ALL. Here’s hoping TLR and Jock have it right.

Further, Mulder’s not right yet, and I doubt if he’ll even be ready by the end of the season. Maybe we’re seeing the Cards give up on the division? I’m so baffled by all of this.

The Astros aren’t going to be sorry they waived him.. We have Scott who’s batting over 400 since he’s been here(97 ab’s) in left field and Berkman in right field. We already had too many outfielders and all Preston was going to get for the rest of the season was spot starts and pinch hitting roles. Preston is a terrible pinch hitter due to his high strike out numbers.

He’s a good pick up for y’all until Edmonds is back, but once he’s back, Wilson will just be a hole on your bench.

Why NOT send Reyes out? They can’t bring up Rodriguez for another day anyway. In the meantime, they’ve decided that Reyes won’t take his next turn in the rotation. So in the short term you have seven relievers and six bench players.

This is the exact opposite of giving up on the season — it’s them trying to squeeze every small advantage possible.

It may not work, but there’s very little downside to it. Cash? Just the Major League minimum — about $80,000. In a day or two, Rodriguez almost certainly will be back and Perez will be sent out.

I’m worried about them considering platooning Duncan. Yeah, Wilson has hit well against lefties and Duncan hasn’t, but Duncan is still a better overall player and has earned his playing time in recent games.

I don’t know how much the Cards are paying for Wilson but if the price is right it’s a great pickup. He’s shown what he CAN do. He’s still young. Maybe a change of venue will be just the ticket. If the Cards resurrect him without a lot of investment he would make great trade bait next year.

I certainly don’t want to see Duncan platooned for any reason. He has huge talent and he is young. The Cards need to show some faith in him. He’s earned the right to start every day. He’ll learn to hit lefties if he’s given the opportunity.

Glad to see Weaver turn it around. I think he can be a solid starter. I liked him when he was with the Dodgers and, like you, I think there’s always value in a guy who eats innings.

M,
Thank you for shedding some light on the decision to send down Reyes. It at least makes A LITTLE more sense. BUT… why is Reyes not taking his next turn in the rotation. Is it going to be Mulder for sure?? And what about his getting knocked around in AAA?

If he can’t get guys out in Memphis, what makes TLR,Jocketty,etc. think he can get major league hitters out? Why not let him continue to work on problems in Memphis until they are corrected?

Shaun, I do think that’s the one part of this that’s puzzling. But I also find it easy to believe that Mulder may not have been giving it full focus while pitching at SBC Bricktown Ballpark, and I think we won’t really know until he takes the mound in a big league game.

But yea, if there’s one part of the whole equation that makes me uneasy, it’s making the commitment in advance to lock yourself in with Mulder at some point in the Mets series. If he’s not right, he’s not going to help.

Did anyone read my article on Mulder? I think he has nothing left, and if he does, he won’t be the same pitcher he was in the past—that’s for sure. I think he’s got little chance of being resigned in his free agent year by the Cards…what’s your take, Matthew?

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